How parents of local businesses boost their charitable credentials in local schools

 

In these times of financial constraint, it’s difficult to find ways to ‘give something back’. Yet many businesses are successfully taking up opportunities to promote their offerings in their local schools, reaching target customers, and doing so with mutually supportive interests at heart. Sarah West, Marketing and Communications Manager at PTA UK, explains how parents are engaging with local schools to promote their business, without breaking the bank, and at the same time doing something good for the community.

The bread and butter of most school Parent and Teacher Associations (PTAs) is fundraising. Mums, dads and carers of young people volunteer their time to bring in funds so children can enjoy additional activities or resources which can support classroom learning or enrich a child’s educational experience.

 

Their work is valued and important, not least because through the many hours of volunteering, children are seeing parents and carers as role models, enjoying them taking an active interest in their school, and through their involvement, are helping to support them academically, behaviourally and emotionally to achieve their potential. Yet, as anyone who has ever been involved in fundraising activities at school will know, coming up with new ideas, or engaging those who previously have not been involved for whatever reason, is no easy feat. So, what are local businesses doing to support their community schools?

 

Many local businesses are run by mums and dads. Their offerings and size are varied and in many cases, there may not be any formal charitable giving policy or community support initiative in place. But schools should not be overlooked by businesses seeking to raise awareness of what they do because reaching potential customers at the school gates can positively help drive interest in their offerings.

 

Ad hoc approaches for donations are sometimes made by schools, but local businesses can themselves proactively search out opportunities to raise awareness and market their business while at the same time supporting local good causes.

 

To get started, small businesses can try out the following:

• Throughout the school year there are many events and fayres that could provide good promotion opportunities. In return for a donation, many schools will offer advertising space in event programmes, newsletters or on their websites; the chance to display a banner in the playground; the opportunity to insert a flyer into school book-bags; or the chance to have a stall at their event.
• Raffle prizes are always welcomed by PTAs, and small businesses are well placed to offer branded goods or services that can be promoted by the PTA at an event they are planning.
• Goods in kind are a good option too. With little slack in the budget, some schools have reported a shortage of the basics and, as such, some businesses may prefer to offer goods such as stationery or paper. If you’ve got old tech that could be recycled too, it’s worth approaching local schools to find out if they can make use of it. As businesses are more inclined to update computers and printers regularly, what may seem old to them could well be ‘state-of-the-art’ to schools.
• If your business offers a service such as accountancy or printing, you could promise some time to audit the PTA accounts or consider offering to print raffle tickets or flyers; perhaps if you have a room at your workplace that could be used for an event being organised by the local school PTA, offer this for free or at a greatly reduced rate in return for a mention on the promotional information that they are preparing.
• If a local business buys supplies and goods online, they could sign up to make purchases through a donation site such as Easyfundraising, and nominate the local school as a beneficiary to receive cashback based on the purchases they make, at no cost to them at all. In return, schools are often happy to promote the support businesses provide in this way via social media and newsletters, for example.
• There are also lots of sponsorship opportunities too where local businesses could for example, provide their local school with a branded football kit for the school team or by sponsoring the school garden, donating seeds and bulbs with a plaque visibly crediting their business.

 

Businesses further afield and not necessarily in the local community, wishing to up their charitable credentials can also support their colleagues who have children in schools looking to raise money for a specific project. Many companies have a match-funding policy in place and employees can nominate their child’s school as a beneficiary. Others may be happy to display posters in their workplace promoting fundraising initiatives or encouraging colleagues to take part in a sponsored fitness challenge or such like for their child’s school PTA. Alternatively, others may be happy to show their support with a straightforward donation.

 

Supporting school PTAs is a positive, charitable act which businesses (often run by mums and dads) can support in a range of ways that suit them best. Not only does their involvement reach a potential new market which can help grow a business, the contribution or donation made in return will go directly to supporting our young people in their education.

Sarah West is Marketing and Communications Manager at PTA UK, the national charity in England, Wales and Northern Ireland which champions all the ways that parents can participate in education. For further information log onto: www.pta.org.uk or join the Facebook page for parents at https://www.facebook.com/ForParentsbyPTAUK/